Side story- Sonya and Falk

Author's note

So we had another Sonya/Falk story win the last poll! There's two things I'm going to be honest about. First, I had no clue what to name this one which is pretty obvious from the weak title. Second, originally I was going to do this as a continuation of the last Sonya and Falk story but after rewriting it three times I just couldn't make something that I would be satisfied giving to you all, so instead you're all getting a story that takes place a fair bit later, but still long before the start of the main story. Hope you all enjoy!

Working at his forge with single-minded dedication, Falk hammered a slab of metal, all of his focus on that one act in an attempt to ignore all of his future concerns.

It was an order for a sword, simple enough for him considering the thousands he must have made in his time by that point, but given the client he was making it for it needed to be in another realm compared to his usual quality, and he’d already discarded five prior attempts for failing to reach his standards. This one though had potential so far.

He felt the shape forming exactly as he wanted it, his earth magic flowing through his hammer as if it were a staff to improve the quality as it was being made, shaping the metal with greater ease to get its form perfect.

Once that was done he picked it up, looking it over with care before giving that stage of its design a pass, with the only thing remaining being to apply the enchantments.

His skills in that regard were focused in one area and one area alone. Death magic and any other skills that could be used with it. His affinity for it was great and after years of selecting and training what other skills he would acquire to match it, his enchantments in that regard were unparalleled as he laid them down.

It was lucky for him that the client who ordered the sword didn’t do so with any fancy effects in mind. He hadn’t been looking for something that would whittle away a creature's vitality after a strike or a means of weakening a target, instead only wanting an enchantment that would end the life of whatever it hit as quickly as possible.

Feeling his magics and skills as he held the blade he got to work, weaving each piece of power he’d trained into a greater whole as the abilities that made him the enchanter he was were expertly laid down, and with the sword holding under the dense structure he’d created, it was complete.

It was good to have it done, it really was, but Falk couldn’t help but regret that it hadn’t taken a few more attempts. It had been the only thing he could use as an excuse to get out of the other things he needed to do, but with nothing else that could trump it in importance he let out a groan and gave in.

Pushing away all of the tables to the side wall, clearing a large area in the middle of his workspace, Falk stood in the center of everything and began to try to dance.

Try being the keyword. He’d had no interest in the skill, nor any desire in the past to gain it, but present circumstances meant he needed at least the zeroth level. He’d managed to avoid so many annoying events during his time adventuring with Sonya and Pelenia, but if there was one thing he wouldn’t be able to skip out on, it was the latter’s coronation.

Holding his arms up and gritting his teeth, he did his best to follow the steps he knew that one of the few succubus dances that didn’t involve a tail entailed, feeling his body betray him as it failed to get any of the steps right.

Damn it. Why did that crazy girl decide she wanted to compete for the throne anyway? Maybe I could just say I forgot about it…

As tempting as an option as that was, he knew in his heart he couldn’t do that to someone he’d called a friend for years so he stopped his mental grumbling to get back to focusing on his feet, right up until he heard the door open.

In a flash he stopped moving, trying to act natural. His work area wasn’t some public shop, but a private space for working and filling out orders, meaning only a select few had a key to it, none of which he wanted seeing him flailing about like that as he watched the hall to the door and seeing Sonya come in, looking exhausted as she did.

“Everything alright?” He asked in surprise. “Hospital wasn’t too bad today, was it?”

“Ugh, no, it’s fine. It’s just… are you reorganizing the place?” She asked him, her original thought cut off as she noticed all of the tables and tools pushed to the walls as she went to a free chair and laid down her head.

“Er, something like that. So what was the problem?” He asked again, trying to get her back on track.

“The problem is that in less than a week my idiot sister is going to be the ruler of Anailia,” She told him, with it being the same problem she’d been dealing with ever since she got the news. “For good or bad I love my home Falk but I don’t want to imagine how things are going to turn out now. Maybe I should move before things get too disastrous.”

“Ha, I think you should give her the benefit of the doubt. ‘Sides, she’s got Abrus, he’s got a good head on his shoulders.”

“When he’s not with her, yeah. When he is then he’s a love-struck idiot. Honestly, I get why she would be voted into power seeing as it ties him to the nation too, but she’s going to be the one doing the actual ruling! Maybe I should have been more strict on her growing up,” She muttered at the end, only making the yeti laugh more.

“I can’t imagine you being strict enough to change the girl, but don’t worry so much. After all, what’s the worst that could happen?”

“For my mental health I refuse to do any thinking on what the worst could be. She’s dragged both of us into enough problems, now she can do that to my nation as a whole.”

Well, she’s not wrong there. He thought to himself before trying to reassure her more. “It’s not like she won’t have advisors to help her so it will be fine. At worst, don’t go stressing before anything’s gone wrong yet.”

“Mmh, I guess,” She said, the look in her eyes changing as she shifted the focus of the topic. “So, are you ready for her coronation?”

“Of course,” He lied with ease. “What’s there even to be ready for? We eat, we mingle, we congratulate that sister of yours and we leave. Nice and easy.”

She stared at him quietly for a moment before breaking into a bright smile. “You still can’t dance, can you?”

“Mmh, such a dumb tradition,” He muttered. “I’m a smith, there’s no reason I should be going, let alone have to dance.”

“Ha, it’s reason enough that you’re close to her, and don’t act like your kind doesn’t have any silly traditions of their own.”

“We don’t. Yetis are far too practical a species for any of that nonsense. We definitely don’t have any traditions that involve making an ass of yourself with over a dozen women. You’d think this was a matchmaking event with the way it’s set up.”

“You’ve lived in Anailia for how many years now?” She asked him teasingly as she got up and walked over to him. “You’d think you’d be used to living in a place that worships a love goddess. Anyway, there’s one way you could get out of having to dance with so many different women if you don’t want to…”

She trailed off and stopped looking at him as she was right in front of him, but he barely noticed, too enraptured with the idea that he might be able to get out of the whole ordeal. “I’m all ears, how do I avoid this?”

“Just dance with me.”

She could feel her face burning with the statement as she rushed to explain herself, cursing that after so many years she still wasn’t able to express her feelings. “I mean, having to dance with a bunch of partners really is a matchmaking thing like you said; it’s not like anyone who’s married or otherwise involved with someone has to so it would just be an act to save you some trouble, and save me some too since there’s bound to be one or two people who’d want to warm up to me just because I’m Pelenia’s sister so really you’d be helping me too-”

She stopped as Falk grabbed her arms and stared down at her, a happy smile stretched across his face. “Sonya you’re brilliant. If I need to spend a night dancing then it really is for the best to have it be with someone who might just cut me some slack when I’m crap at it.”

A load off of his mind, he immediately went to put all of his tables back where they belonged, only for Sonya to stop him in an instant.

“And what do you think you’re doing?”

“Cleaning? If I’m only dancing with you then-”

“Does the fact that you're just dancing with me mean you shouldn’t try to be good at it?” She asked him with a small pout, twisting his stomach with guilt as she did.

“No, of course not-”

“Excellent,” She said, her expression flipping in an instant. “In that case, we can practice dancing together for the next week since we still have time. We’ll get you the zeroth level before you know it.”

Grabbing his arms and pulling him to the center of the room, he decided it might not be too bad to devote a bit of effort after seeing how happy Sonya looked and resolved to do the best he could to live up to those expectations with the time they had.

And another author's note

So after all of her appearances in the main story, not to mentions seven side stories where she's the focus, I really need to remember to give Sonya a happy ending by the time the main story is done. Here's my IOU to Sonya, probably won't forget. If I do all of you should riot.